Electrical connectors are commonly used in the electronics industry in order to facilitate the electrical interconnection of various components. Such connectors are typically formed with a connector body including a row of a specified number of positions, with each position containing one or more connection sites. For example, a twelve position dual in-line connector will have twelve positions of two pins or connection sites each, for a total of twenty-four pins. Similarly, a twelve position single in-line connector will have twelve positions for a single pin or connection site, for a total of twelve pins.
Electrical connectors may generally be divided into two classes: through-hole connectors and surface mount connectors. Surface mount connectors include a connector body having a conductive lead for each position protruding from the bottom surface of the connector body. Each lead is formed in a curved configuration such that the lead rests on a conductive pad on the surface of a printed circuit board. The surface mount leads are soldered to the conductive pads.
Through-hole connectors, on the other hand, include a connector body having a row of conductive pins which protrude from the bottom surface of the body and extend through holes formed in the printed circuit board to which the connector is mounted. Each of these pins is soldered to a conductive trace on the opposite side of the printed circuit board from the connector. For example, if a through-hole connector has twelve pins, twelve through-holes will be formed in the printed circuit board with the same dimensional spacing between the through-holes as between the connector pins. In addition, a through-hole connector may have a pin protruding from the top of the connector body to allow a second printed circuit board to be mounted and electrically connected to the first board as described above.
Both surface mount connectors and through-hole connectors generally include a connector body, which is designed to maintain the desired spacing and length of the conductive leads in the case of a surface mount connector, or the pins in the case of a through-hole connector. The connector body is formed with the appropriate sized and spaced receptacles for holding the required number of leads or pins. Typically, the connector body is composed of a reinforced, plastic type material. The connector body is designed so that it grippingly engages the pins or leads, and may be used to easily and quickly place the leads or pins of the connector in the desired position or through the desired through-hole. The body is also designed so that it may remain engaged to the leads or pins after they are soldered to the board and the circuit board is assembled.
One problem associated with connector bodies and is well known in the industry is that the bodies of the various connectors often consume too much space between adjacent electrically connected circuit boards. The connector bodies thus cause the circuit boards to be spaced at a greater distance than desired. One response to this problem by those in the electrical industry has been to design connector bodies of reduced thickness. For example the thickness of a connector body for a through-hole connector may range from 0.10 inches to 0.05 inches.
While the design changes in connector bodies has resolved spacing problems for some applications, there still exists situations when the spacing constraints between circuit boards does not allow a connector body to reside therebetween. In this situation, it is necessary to remove the connector body engaged to the pins (or leads) from a first one of the circuit boards. When the connector body is removed, the pins (or leads) previously engaged to the connector body protrude outward from the first circuit board. This allows the connector body that remains engaged to the pins (or leads) of the second circuit board (or other receptacle positioned on the second board) to receive the protruding ends of the pins (or leads) of the first circuit board. The two circuit boards are then electrically connected and the spacing between the two circuit boards is reduced by at least the thickness of the removed connector body.
In order to remove a connector body from the pins (or leads), it is first necessary to insert the connector through the through-holes of the circuit board. The pins (or leads) are then soldered to the circuit board, with the body engaged to the pins, to engage the connector to the circuit board. The body must remain engaged to the pins during this process for two reasons. First, it is essential that the connector body and pins remain engaged until the pins (or leads) are engaged to the circuit board so that the uniform spacing of the pins (or leads) is precisely maintained. Second, a significant amount of force must be exerted to remove the connector body which is grippingly engaged to the leads or pins. Thus, the solder connection provides a sufficient restraining force, in some cases, to withstand the pull force required to remove the connector body. Typically the pins or leads are frictionally engaged to the connector body. The force required to pull the pins or leads out of the receptacles of the connector body is required to be significant to ensure that a reliable connection is maintained between the connector and various components connected thereto.
Thus, removing the connector body from the pins results in the pull force being exerted on the solder connection of the pins (or leads) to the circuit board. As known to those in the connector industry, this may cause damage to the solder connection and therefore result in poor quality electrical connections. In order to prevent this from occurring, it is necessary to carefully pull the connector body from the pins, and then inspect the solder connection to ensure no damage was done. Thus, current techniques for removing connector bodies are time-consuming, expensive and unreliable for reducing the spacing required between circuit boards.
Another problem with existing techniques for removing connector bodies is that the length of the pins (or leads) protruding from the surface of the circuit board is difficult, if not impossible, to adjust and/or vary. This is due to the force required to slide a pin frictionally engaged to the connector body. Thus, it is a time consuming and tedious task to adjust the length of each pin of the connector to ensure it is uniform and proper with the other pins.
What is therefore needed is a connector body which may be easily removed from pins or leads after they are soldered to a circuit board. The connector body should maintain the pins or leads at the desired spacing and length prior to soldering the connector to the board. The connector body should also be adaptable for use with either surface mount or through-hole connectors. Finally, the connector body should be readily manufactured from existing materials and techniques used for connector bodies. The present invention is directed towards these and other ends.